Electronic device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a viewing angle switchable structure. The viewing angle switchable structure includes a first polarizer, a second polarizer, a first liquid crystal layer, a second liquid crystal layer, and a substrate. The first liquid crystal layer is disposed between the first polarizer and the second polarizer. The second liquid crystal layer is disposed between the second polarizer and the substrate. A polarized light is incident into the second liquid crystal layer. An absorption axis of the first polarizer and an absorption axis of the second polarizer have different angles. The angle of the absorption axis of the first polarizer is perpendicular to a polarization direction of the polarized light.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.63/271,730, filed on Oct. 26, 2021 and priority of China PatentApplication No. 202210954821.3, filed on Aug. 10, 2022, the entirety ofwhich are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, and, inparticular, to an electronic device that includes a viewing angleswitchable structure.

BACKGROUND

Recently, as the concept of privacy has been paid more attention, usershave attached great importance to the privacy effect of electronicdevices that are necessary in daily life.

Generally, a light collimation system may be provided in an electronicdevice to improve the privacy effect. In addition, two privacy modulesare also used to improve the privacy effect. However, in the case ofusing two privacy modules, more optical film need to be used due to themismatch of polarization properties in the stacked structure. Thus, thethickness of the entire electronic device may be increased, so that themanufacturing cost may be increased.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device.The electronic device includes a viewing angle switchable structureincluding a first polarizer, a second polarizer, a first liquid crystallayer, a second liquid crystal layer, and a substrate. The first liquidcrystal layer is disposed between the first polarizer and the secondpolarizer. The second liquid crystal layer is disposed between thesecond polarizer and the substrate. A polarized light is incident intothe second liquid crystal layer. An absorption axis of the firstpolarizer and an absorption axis of the second polarizer have differentangles. The angle of the absorption axis of the first polarizer isperpendicular to a polarization direction of the polarized light.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device.The electronic device includes a viewing angle switchable structure anda display structure. The viewing angle switchable structure includes afirst polarizer, a second polarizer, a first liquid crystal layer, asecond liquid crystal layer, and a substrate. The display structureincludes a back light module and a display module. The first liquidcrystal layer is disposed between the first polarizer and the secondpolarizer. The display module is disposed between the second polarizerand the second liquid crystal layer. The second liquid crystal layer isdisposed between the display module and the substrate. A polarized lightis incident into the second liquid crystal layer. An angle of anabsorption axis of the first polarizer is as same as a polarizationdirection of the polarized light.

The electronic device of the present disclosure may be applied invarious types of electronic apparatus. In order to make the features andadvantages of the present disclosure more understand, some embodimentsof the present disclosure are listed below in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, and are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be more fully understood from the followingdetailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings. It should be noted that, according to the standard practice inthe industry, the various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, thedimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased orreduced for clarity. Furthermore, the numerical values in the drawingsare for illustrative and non-limiting purposes.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic deviceaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 to 4 are respectively three-dimensional schematic diagramsshowing optical properties of an electronic device according to someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic deviceaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 6 to 9 are respectively schematic cross-sectional views ofelectronic devices according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices of various embodiments of the present disclosure willbe described in detail below. It should be understood that the followingdescription provides many different embodiments for implementing variousaspects of some embodiments of the present disclosure. The specificelements and arrangements described below are merely to clearly describesome embodiments of the present disclosure. Of course, these are onlyused as examples rather than limitations of the present disclosure.Furthermore, similar and/or corresponding reference numerals may be usedin different embodiments to designate similar and/or correspondingelements, in order to clearly describe the present disclosure. However,the use of these similar and/or corresponding reference numerals is onlyfor the purpose of simply and clearly description of some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and does not imply any correlation between thedifferent embodiments and/or structures discussed.

It should be understood that relative terms, such as “lower”, “bottom”,“higher” or “top” may be used in various embodiments to describe therelative relationship of one element of the drawings to another element.It will be understood that if the device in the drawings were turnedupside down, elements described on the “lower” side would becomeelements on the “upper” side. The embodiments of the present disclosuremay be understood together with the drawings, and the drawings of thepresent disclosure are also regarded as a portion of the disclosure.

Furthermore, when it is mentioned that a first material layer is locatedon or over a second material layer, it may include the embodiment whichthe first material layer and the second material layer are in directcontact and the embodiment which the first material layer and the secondmaterial layer are not in direct contact with each other, that is one ormore layers of other materials is between the first material layer andthe second material layer. However, if the first material layer isdirectly on the second material layer, it means that the first materiallayer and the second material layer are in direct contact.

In addition, it should be understood that ordinal numbers such as“first”, “second” and the like used in the description and claims areused to modify elements and are not intended to imply and represent theelement(s) have any previous ordinal numbers, and do not represent theorder of a certain element and another element, or the order of themanufacturing method, and the use of these ordinal numbers is only usedto clearly distinguished an element with a certain name and anotherelement with the same name. The claims and the specification may not usethe same terms, for example, a first element in the specification may bea second element in the claim.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, terms related to bondingand connection, such as “connect”, “interconnect”, “bond” and the like,unless otherwise defined, may refer to two structures in direct contact,or they may refer to two structures that are not in direct contact,there being another structure disposed between the two structures. Termsrelated to bonding and connection may also include embodiments in whichboth structures are movable, or both structures are fixed. Furthermore,the terms “electrically connected” or “electrically coupled” includedirect and indirect means of electrical connection.

Herein, the terms “approximately”. “about”, and “substantially”generally mean within 10%, within 5%, within 3%, within 2%, within 1%,or within 0.5% of a given value or range. The given value is anapproximate value, that is, “approximately”, “about”, and“substantially” may still be implied without the specific description of“approximately”, “about”, and “substantially”. The phrase “a rangebetween a first value and a second value” means that the range includesthe first value, the second value, and other values in between.Furthermore, any two values or directions used for comparison may havecertain tolerance. If the first value is equal to the second value, itimplies that there may be a tolerance within about 10%, within 5%,within 3%, within 2%, within 1%, or within 0.5% between the first valueand the second value. If the first direction is perpendicular to thesecond direction, the angle between the first direction and the seconddirection may be between 80 degrees and 100 degrees. If the firstdirection is parallel to the second direction, the angle between thefirst direction and the second direction may be between 0 degrees and 10degrees.

Certain terms may be used throughout the specification and claims inthis disclosure to refer to specific elements. A person of ordinaryskills in the art should be understood that electronic devicemanufacturers may refer to the same element by different terms. Thisdisclosure does not intend to distinguish between elements that have thesame function but with different terms. In the following description andclaims, terms such as “comprising”, “including” and “having” areopen-ended words, so they should be interpreted as meaning “includingbut not limited to . . . ”. Therefore, when the terms “comprising”,“including” and/or “having” is used in the description of the presentdisclosure, it designates the presence of corresponding features,regions, steps, operations and/or elements, but does not exclude thepresence of one or more corresponding features, regions, steps,operations and/or elements.

It should be understood that, in the following embodiments, features inseveral different embodiments may be replaced, recombined, and bonded tocomplete other embodiments without departing from the spirit of thepresent disclosure. The features of the various embodiments may be usedin any combination as long as they do not violate the spirit of thedisclosure or conflict with each other.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by aperson of ordinary skills in the art. It should be understand that theseterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having meanings consistent with the relevant art and thebackground or context of the present disclosure, and should not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal manner, unless otherwisedefined in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Herein, the respective directions are not limited to three axes of therectangular coordinate system, such as the X-axis, the Y-axis, and theZ-axis, and may be interpreted in a broader sense. For example, theX-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis may be perpendicular to each other,or may represent different directions that are not perpendicular to eachother, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Forconvenience of description, hereinafter, the X-axis direction is thefirst direction D1 (the length direction), the Y-axis direction is thesecond direction D2 (the width direction), and the Z-axis direction isthe third direction D3 (the height direction/the thickness direction).In some embodiments, the schematic cross-sectional views describedherein are schematic views of the XZ plane.

In some embodiments, the electronic device of the present disclosure mayinclude a display module, a back light module, an antenna module, asensing module, or a tiled module, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. The electronic device may be a foldable or flexibleelectronic device. The display module may be a non-self-luminous displaymodule or a self-luminous display module. The antenna module may be aliquid crystal antenna module or a non-liquid crystal antenna module.The sensing module may be a sensing module for sensing capacitance,light, heat, or ultrasonic waves, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. The electronic element may include passive elements andactive elements, such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, diodes,transistors, and the like. The diodes may include light emitting diodesor photodiodes. The light emitting diodes may include, for example,organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), mini light emitting diodes (miniLEDs), micro light emitting diodes (micro LEDs), or quantum dot lightemitting diodes (quantum dot LED), but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. The tiled module may be, for example, a display tiledmodule or an antenna tiled module, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. It should be noted that, the electronic device may beany arrangement and combination of the foregoing, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto. The present disclosure will bedescribed below with reference to an electronic device including adisplay module (or further including a back light module), but thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto.

In addition, the shape of the electronic device may be rectangular,circular, polygonal, a shape with curved edges, or another suitableshape. The electronic device may have a peripheral system, such as aprocessing system, a driving system, a control system, a light sourcesystem, a shelf system, and the like to support the electronic device.

In some embodiments, additional elements may be added into theelectronic device of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, someelements of the electronic device of the present disclosure may bereplaced or omitted. In some embodiments, additional processing stepsmay be provided before, during, and/or after a manufacturing method ofthe electronic device. In some embodiments, some of the describedprocessing steps may be replaced or omitted, and the order of some ofthe described processing steps may be interchangeable. Furthermore, itshould be understood that some of the described processing steps may bereplaced or deleted for other embodiments of the method. Furthermore, inthe present disclosure, the number and size of each element in thedrawings are for illustration only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a polarizer is an optical element capable ofconverting an unpolarized light into a polarized light such as alinearly polarized light. The direction of the transmission axis of thepolarizer is perpendicular to the direction of the absorption axis ofthe polarizer. In some embodiments, when the unpolarized lightirradiates the polarizer, the unpolarized light in the same (orparallel) direction as the transmission axis of the polarizer passesthrough the polarizer, and the unpolarized light in the same (orparallel) direction as the absorption axis of the polarizer does notpass through the polarizer. In other words, the unpolarized lightperpendicular to the direction of the absorption axis of the polarizermay pass through the polarizer. Hereinafter, the angle of the absorptionaxis of the polarizer may be used to describe properties of thepolarizer. In addition, it should be understood that when the angle ofthe absorption axis of the polarizer is described as “a degrees”, theangle of the absorption axis of the polarizer may also be expressed as“a+180 degrees”, where “a” may be any value greater than or equal to 0to less than or equal to 360 (0≤a≤360). For example, when the angle ofthe absorption axis of the polarizer is 0 degrees (°), the angle of theabsorption axis of the polarizer may also be expressed as 180 degrees.In this disclosure, the term “privacy” means that the transmittance islower than 10%, 8%, 6%, 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1%, 0.5% or lower so that thepicture of the electronic device may be difficult to see.

In the following, the different modes and different rotations of theliquid crystal units described in the present disclosure are defined. Insome embodiments, the liquid crystal unit may be E mode or O mode. Forexample, when the polarization direction (i.e., the vibration direction)of the light incident on the liquid crystal unit is substantiallyparallel to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules inthe liquid crystal layer, the liquid crystal layer is an E mode liquidcrystal layer. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 , in the second liquidcrystal unit LC2, the first polarization direction VD1 of the firstlight L1 incident on the second liquid crystal unit LC2 is substantiallyparallel to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules inthe second liquid crystal layer 207. Thus, the second liquid crystallayer 207 is in E mode. For example, when the polarization direction ofthe light incident on the liquid crystal unit is substantiallyperpendicular to the long axis direction of the liquid crystal moleculesin the liquid crystal layer, the liquid crystal layer is an O modeliquid crystal layer. In some embodiments, it is confirmed from theviewing angle light distribution diagram that the privacy effectprovided by the use of the O mode liquid crystal layer and that of the Emode liquid crystal layer are substantially the same, so the presentdisclosure may use the O mode liquid crystal layer and/or the E modeliquid crystal layer.

In some embodiments, the liquid crystal layer may be a left-handedliquid crystal layer or a right-handed liquid crystal layer. In someembodiments, the liquid crystal unit has a first alignment layer and asecond alignment layer, and the first alignment layer and the secondalignment layer have a first alignment axis and a second alignment axis,respectively. For example, when light is incident from the secondalignment layer toward the first alignment layer, and the angle from thesecond alignment axis to the first alignment axis is clockwise, theliquid crystal layer is a left-handed liquid crystal layer. For example,as shown in FIG. 2 , in the second liquid crystal unit LC2, the firstlight L1 is incident from the lower alignment layer (the fourthalignment axis AL4) toward the upper alignment layer (the thirdalignment axis AL3), and the angle from the fourth alignment axis AL4 tothe third alignment axis AL3 is clockwise, so the second liquid crystallayer 207 is a left-handed liquid crystal layer. For example, when lightis incident from the second alignment layer toward the first alignmentlayer, and the angle from the second alignment axis to the firstalignment axis is counterclockwise, the liquid crystal layer is aright-handed liquid crystal layer.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an electronic device 1according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the electronic device 1 includes a viewing angle switchablestructure SS. In some embodiments, the viewing angle switchablestructure SS may include a first polarizer P1, a second polarizer P2, afirst liquid crystal layer 107, a second liquid crystal layer 207, and asubstrate 212S. In the third direction D3, the first liquid crystallayer 107 is disposed between the first polarizer P1 and the secondpolarizer P2, the second liquid crystal layer 207 is disposed betweenthe second polarizer P2 and the substrate 212S, and the polarized light(the first light L1) is incident on the second liquid crystal layer 207.The third direction D3 is the lamination direction of theabove-mentioned layers, or the thickness direction of the firstpolarizer P1 and/or the second polarizer P2.

Wherein, the first polarizer P1 has a first absorption axis AX1, and thesecond polarizer P2 has a second absorption axis AX2, and the firstabsorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 and the second absorptionaxis AX2 of the second polarizer P2 have different angles. For example,the difference between the angle of the first absorption axis AX1 of thefirst polarizer P1 and the angle of the second absorption axis AX2 ofthe second polarizer P2 (|the angle of the first absorption axis AX1−theangle of the second absorption axis AX2|) is 90 degrees. That is, thefirst absorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 is “X degrees” andthe second absorption axis AX2 of the second polarizer P2 is “X±90degrees”, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Wherein, the angle of the first absorption axis AX1 of the firstpolarizer P1 is perpendicular to the polarization direction (the firstpolarization direction VD1) of the polarized light (the first light L1).For example, the angle of the first absorption axis AX1 of the firstpolarizer P1 is “X degrees”, and the first polarization direction VD1 is“X±90 degrees”, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

Refer to FIG. 1 , the viewing angle switchable structure SS includes thefirst polarizer P1, the second polarizer P2, a first liquid crystal unitLC1, and a second liquid crystal unit LC2. In some embodiments, in thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1, in addition to the first liquid crystallayer 107, the first liquid crystal unit LC1 may further includesubstrates, alignment layers, electrodes, and the like. The secondliquid crystal unit LC2 may include the second liquid crystal layer 207and the substrate 212S. In addition, the second liquid crystal unit LC2may further include substrates, alignment layers, electrodes, and thelike. To simplify the description, some elements included in the firstliquid crystal unit LC1 and the second liquid crystal unit LC2 are notlisted in detail in FIG. 1 . The detailed elements of the first liquidcrystal unit LC1 and the second liquid crystal unit LC2 will bedescribed in FIG. 9 later.

In some embodiments, in the third direction D3, the second polarizer P2is disposed on the second liquid crystal unit LC2, the first liquidcrystal unit LC1 is disposed on the second polarizer P2, and the firstpolarizer P1 is disposed on the first liquid crystal unit LC1. In someembodiments, the first polarizer P1 and/or the second polarizer P2 mayinclude triacetate fiber (TAC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the electronic device 1 as shown in FIG. 1 mayfurther include a display structure DS. In some embodiments, pleaserefer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time, the display structure DSmay be used to provide the light L0 or the first light L1, so that thelight L0 or the first light L1 passes through the viewing angleswitchable structure SS. According to some embodiments, the light L0 maypass through a polarizer (such as the third polarizer P3) to provide apolarized light (the first light L1). The polarized light (the firstlight L1) may be incident on the viewing angle switchable structure SS,for example incident on the second liquid crystal layer 207. In someembodiments, the display structure DS may include a display module 30,and the display module 30 may include a display layer. In someembodiments, the display structure DS may further include a back lightmodule 40 to provide a light source (e.g., a back light) into thedisplay module 30. In some embodiments, the display structure DS may bea self-luminous or non-self-luminous display structure. If the displaystructure DS is a self-luminous display structure, the back light module40 may be omitted. For example, the display structure DS may include anorganic light emitting diode display layer, the display structure DS maynot include the back light module 40, and the display module 30 mayinclude the organic light emitting diode display layer. According tosome embodiments, when the display structure DS includes the back lightmodule 40, the display module 30 may be a liquid crystal display panel,and the back light module 40 may provide a light source for the liquidcrystal display panel. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1 , thefirst polarizer P1 is disposed between the display module 30 and thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1. In some embodiments, in the thirddirection D3, the display module 30 is disposed on the first liquidcrystal unit LC1. In other embodiments, the display module 30 isdisposed between the second liquid crystal unit LC2 and the back lightmodule 40. In still other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 5 , the displaymodule 30 is disposed between the second polarizer P2 and the secondliquid crystal unit LC2. According to some embodiments, the back lightmodule 40 may directly provide the polarized light (the first light L1)without a polarizer (the third polarizer P3).

Refer to FIG. 1 in conjunction with FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 is athree-dimensional schematic diagram showing the optical properties ofthe electronic device 1 according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Since FIG. 2 shows a light path diagram in the electronicdevice 1, elements such as the substrate 212S are omitted. In someembodiments, the viewing angle switchable structure SS may include afirst viewing angle switchable module 10 and a second viewing angleswitchable module 20. In some embodiments, the first viewing angleswitchable module 10 and the second viewing angle switchable module 20may be regarded as privacy units, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows a further detailed structure of the electronic device. Insome embodiments, please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 9 , the first viewingangle switchable module 10 may include the first polarizer P1, thesecond polarizer P2, and a first liquid crystal unit LC1. The firstliquid crystal unit LC1 may include a first alignment layer (e.g., thefirst alignment layer 104A shown in FIG. 9 ) and a second alignmentlayer (e.g., the second alignment layer 108A shown in FIG. 9 ). Thus,the first alignment layer may have the first alignment axis AL1 and thesecond alignment layer may have the second alignment axis AL2. Comparedto the second alignment axis AL2, the first alignment axis AL1 is closerto the first polarizer P1. In some embodiments, the first liquid crystallayer 107 in the first liquid crystal unit LC1 may include a pluralityof first liquid crystal molecules. For example, the first liquid crystalmolecules may be twisted nematic liquid crystal (TN) molecules. In thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1, the first alignment axis AL1 of the firstalignment layer may be perpendicular to the second alignment axis AL2 ofthe second alignment layer. As shown in FIG. 9 , the first liquidcrystal unit LC1 may further include a first electrode 102E and a secondelectrode 110E disposed on both sides of the first liquid crystal layer107, the first alignment layer 104A disposed between the first electrode102E and the first liquid crystal layer 107, and the second alignmentlayer 108A disposed between the second electrode 110E and the firstliquid crystal layer 107. By changing the voltage of the first electrode102E and the second electrode 110E in the first liquid crystal unit LC1,the penetration of light to the first liquid crystal unit LC1 ischanged, so that the first viewing angle switchable module 10 has theeffect of switching the viewing angle. That is, by controlling thevoltage, the first viewing angle switchable module 10 has a sharing mode(the large viewing angle) and a privacy mode (the small viewing angle),and the sharing mode and the privacy mode may be switched from eachother.

In some embodiments, please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. 9 , the secondviewing angle switchable module 20 may include a second polarizer P2 anda second liquid crystal unit LC2. The second liquid crystal unit LC2 mayinclude a third alignment layer (e.g., the third alignment layer 204Ashown in FIG. 9 ) and a fourth alignment layer (e.g., the fourthalignment layer 208A shown in FIG. 9 ). Thus, the third alignment layermay have the third alignment axis AL3 and the fourth alignment layer mayhave the fourth alignment axis AL4. Compared to the fourth alignmentaxis AL4, the third alignment axis AL3 is closer to the first polarizerP1. In some embodiments, the second liquid crystal layer 207 in thesecond liquid crystal unit LC2 may include a plurality of second liquidcrystal molecules. For example, the second liquid crystal molecules maybe twisted nematic liquid crystal (TN) molecules. In the second liquidcrystal unit LC2, the third alignment axis AL3 of the third alignmentlayer may be perpendicular to the fourth alignment axis AL4 of thefourth alignment layer. According to some embodiments, since the firstliquid crystal layer 107 and the second liquid crystal layer 207 mayinclude twisted nematic liquid crystal molecules, the size of theprivacy area may be increased. As shown in FIG. 9 , the second liquidcrystal unit LC2 may further include a third electrode 202E and anfourth electrode 210E disposed on both sides of the second liquidcrystal layer 207, the third alignment layer 204A disposed between thethird electrode 202E and the second liquid crystal layer 207, and thefourth alignment layer 208A disposed between the fourth electrode 210Eand the second liquid crystal layer 207. By changing the voltage of thethird electrode 202E and the fourth electrode 210E in the second liquidcrystal unit LC2, the penetration of light to the second liquid crystalunit LC2 is changed, so that the second viewing angle switchable module20 has the effect of switching the viewing angle. That is, bycontrolling the voltage, the second viewing angle switchable module 20has a sharing mode (the large viewing angle) and a privacy mode (thesmall viewing angle), and the sharing mode and the privacy mode may beswitched from each other.

Refer to FIG. 2 , in some embodiments, the viewing angle switchablestructure SS further includes a third polarizer P3. In some embodiments,the second liquid crystal layer 207 is disposed between the thirdpolarizer P3 and the second polarizer P2, and the light L0 may passthrough the third polarizer P3 to provide polarized light (the firstlight L1). In some embodiments, the material of the third polarizer P3and the material of the first polarizer P1 and/or the second polarizerP2 may be the same or different. In some embodiments, the angle of thethird absorption axis AX3 of the third polarizer P3 is the same as theangle of the first absorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1. Insome embodiments, the angle of the first absorption axis AX1 of thefirst polarizer P1 is perpendicular to the polarization direction of thepolarized light passing through the third polarizer P3. In otherembodiments, the third polarizer P3 may be omitted. Therefore, the angleof the first absorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 isperpendicular to the polarization direction of the polarized lightprovided by the back light module 40.

As described above, in some embodiments, the angles of the absorptionaxes of the first polarizer P1 and the second polarizer P2, the anglesof the alignment axis of the alignment layers in the first liquidcrystal unit LC1 and the second liquid crystal unit LC2, and mode and/orrotation of the first liquid crystal layer 107 and the second liquidcrystal layer 207 are adjusted. Thus, the angles of the absorption axesof one of the polarizers required in respective first viewing angleswitchable module 10 and the second viewing angle switchable module 20are the same. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 , a polarizer (the secondpolarizer P2) may be commonly used by the first viewing angle switchablemodule 10 and the second viewing angle switchable module 20. In thisway, in the case that the optical matching (the polarization matching)may be maintained in the viewing angle switchable stack, the number ofpolarizers, the overall thickness of the electronic device, and/or themanufacturing cost may be reduced.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 , the first absorption axis AX1of the first polarizer P1 is 90 degrees or 270 degrees (along the seconddirection D2), and the second absorption axis AX2 of the secondpolarizer P2 is 0 degrees or 180 degrees (along the first direction D1),and the third absorption axis AX3 of the third polarizer P3 is 90degrees or 270 degrees (along the second direction D2). In the firstliquid crystal unit LC1, the first alignment axis AL1 is 90 degrees, thesecond alignment axis AL2 is 180 degrees, and the first liquid crystallayer 107 is an O mode left-handed liquid crystal layer. In the secondliquid crystal unit LC2, the third alignment axis AL3 is 90 degrees, thefourth alignment axis ALA is 180 degrees, and the second liquid crystallayer 207 is an E mode left-handed liquid crystal layer.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 2 , the light L0 is provided to the thirdpolarizer P3 to obtain the first light L1 with the first polarizationdirection VD1 of 0 degrees or 180 degrees (along the first directionD1). Then, the first light L1 is incident on the second liquid crystalunit LC2 having the fourth alignment axis AL4 and the third alignmentaxis AL3, and the second liquid crystal layer 207 turns the first lightL1 into a second light L2. Wherein, the second polarization directionVD2 of the second light L2 is 90 degrees or 270 degrees (along thesecond direction D2), so the first polarization direction VD1 of thefirst light L1 may be perpendicular to the second polarization directionVD2 of the second light L2.

Next, the second light L2 passes through the second polarizer P2, thenis incident on the first liquid crystal unit LC1 having the secondalignment axis AL2 and the first alignment axis AL1. The second light L2is turned into the third light L3 by the first liquid crystal layer 107.Wherein, the third polarization direction VD3 of the third light L3 is 0degrees or 180 degrees (along the first direction D1). That is, thesecond polarization direction VD2 of the second light L2 may beperpendicular to the third polarization direction VD3 of the third lightL3. After that, the third light L3 is emitted through the firstpolarizer P1. Therefore, in an initial state without an externalelectric field, the light may pass through the electronic device 1, sothe electronic device 1 is in a normally white state.

Refer to FIG. 2 , the first viewing angle switchable module 10 and thesecond viewing angle switchable module 20 in the electronic device 1share the second polarizer P2, and the angle of the first absorptionaxis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 is perpendicular to the firstpolarization direction VD1 of the first light L1. In the prior art, inthe case of using two privacy modules, in order to achieve thepolarization matching in the stacked structure, more than one polarizermay be required between the two liquid crystal units. For example, twopolarizers and one half-wave plate may be required between the twoliquid crystal units. Compared with the prior art, in some embodimentsof the present disclosure, one polarizer (i.e., the second polarizer P2)needs to be disposed between the first liquid crystal unit LC1 and thesecond liquid crystal unit LC2. In this way, in the case that theoptical matching (the polarization matching) may be maintained in theviewing angle switchable stack, the number of polarizers, the overallthickness of the electronic device, and/or the manufacturing cost may bereduced. In addition, since the electronic device 1 includes two viewingangle switchable modules (the first viewing angle switchable module 10and the second viewing angle switchable module 20), it provides a greatprivacy effect.

In some embodiments, the back light module 40 may be a non-collimatedback light module. Therefore, the present disclosure may improve theprivacy effect such as the size of the privacy area and/or the privacycapability when the non-collimated back light module is used, so theembodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in vehicle privacypanel with a non-collimated back light module 40 therein. In detail,when the light transmittance of the displayed picture is sufficientlylow, the displayed picture may not be seen by human eyes, so it may beregarded as having a privacy effect. Compared with the collimated backlight module, the non-collimated back light module has lower privacycapability in large viewing angle area, for example, the lighttransmittance may not be low enough, and so the displayed picture maystill be seen. However, the vehicle privacy panel is limited by theregulations of the sharing mode that the vehicle privacy panel needs touse a non-collimated back light module, so the privacy capability of thevehicle privacy panel is limited. In addition, when the size of thedisplay panel increases, the size of the area with the privacycapability is insufficient, so that the privacy failure problem occursin some areas of the display panel. However, the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may maintain the privacy effect when thenon-collimated back light module is used.

Refer to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional schematic diagramshowing the optical properties of the electronic device 1 according toother embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, since FIG. 3shows a light path diagram in the electronic device 1, elements such asthe substrate 212S are omitted. As shown in FIG. 3 , in the first liquidcrystal unit LC1, the first alignment axis AL1 is 180 degrees, thesecond alignment axis AL2 is 90 degrees, and the first liquid crystallayer 107 is an E mode right-handed liquid crystal layer. In the secondliquid crystal unit LC2, the third alignment axis AL3 is 90 degrees, thefourth alignment axis AL4 is 180 degrees, and the second liquid crystallayer 207 is an E mode left-handed liquid crystal layer.

Refer to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional schematic diagramshowing the optical properties of the electronic device 1 according toother embodiments of the present disclosure. Similarly, since FIG. 4shows a light path diagram in the electronic device 1, elements such asthe substrate 212S are omitted. As shown in FIG. 4 , in the first liquidcrystal unit LC1, the first alignment axis AL1 is 0 degrees, the secondalignment axis AL2 is 90 degrees, and the first liquid crystal layer 107is an E mode left-handed liquid crystal layer. In the second liquidcrystal unit LC2, the third alignment axis AL3 is 90 degrees, the fourthalignment axis AL4 is 180 degrees, and the second liquid crystal layer207 is an E mode left-handed liquid crystal layer.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 , in some embodiments, based on thecharacteristics of the first liquid crystal layer 107 and the secondliquid crystal layer 207 that may change the direction of the light, theelectronic device has a privacy range which is a widest angle rangeformed by the angles of the first alignment axis to the fourth alignmentaxis. In some embodiments, the maximum difference between the angle ofthe first alignment axis AL1 or the second alignment axis AL2 of thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1 and the angle of the third alignment axisAL3 or the fourth alignment axis ALA of the second liquid crystal unitLC2 is 90 degrees. Therefore, the electronic device may provide aprivacy effect with an angle range of 90 degrees. In some embodiments,the maximum difference between the angle of the first alignment axis AL1or the second alignment axis AL2 of the first liquid crystal unit LC1and the angle of the third alignment axis AL3 or the fourth alignmentaxis AL4 of the second liquid crystal unit LC2 is 180 degree. Therefore,the electronic device may provide a privacy effect with an angle rangeof 180 degrees. According to some embodiments, the first liquid crystallayer 107 may be O mode or E mode, and may be left-handed orright-handed. The second liquid crystal layer 207 may be O mode or Emode, and may be left-handed or right-handed. The O/E mode andleft/right-handed of the first liquid crystal layer 107 and the secondliquid crystal layer 207 may be combined according to productrequirements, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2 , in the electronic device 1,the first alignment axis AL1 is 90 degrees, the second alignment axisAL2 is 180 degrees, the third alignment axis AL3 is 90 degrees, and thefourth alignment axis AL4 is 180 degrees. Therefore, the widest anglerange formed by the angles of the first alignment axis AL1 to the fourthalignment axis AL4 is 90 degrees to 180 degrees. Thus, the electronicdevice 1 provides a privacy effect between 90 degrees and 180 degrees.In addition, since the upper viewing angle is corresponding to the lowerviewing angle, the privacy effect between 90 degrees and 180 degrees maybe regarded as a single-sided privacy effect on the left side of theelectronic device 1. Similarly, if the electronic device provide aprivacy effect between 0 degrees and 90 degrees, the privacy effect maybe regarded as a single-sided privacy effect on the right side of theelectronic device 1. In other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4 , thewidest angle range formed by the angles of the first alignment axis AL1to the fourth alignment axis AL4 of the electronic device 1 is 0 degreesto 180 degrees. Therefore, the electronic device 1 has a privacy effectbetween 0 degrees and 180 degrees, and the privacy effect may beregarded as a double-sided privacy effect.

Continuing, the angles, alignment axis directions, modes, and/orrotations of the elements of the electronic device 1 of the presentdisclosure are not limited to the above specific parameters, and theparameters of other examples (for example, Examples 1 to 16) are listedin Table 1 and Table 2, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. In some embodiments, based on Table 1 and Table 2, if theparameters of one of the first liquid crystal unit LC1 and the secondliquid crystal unit LC2 are fixed, the parameters of the other of thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1 and the second liquid crystal unit LC2 maybe changed to achieve the single-sided privacy effect. In someembodiments, based on Table 1 and Table 2, the angle range of privacyeffect may be adjusted by changing modes and/or rotations of the liquidcrystal units.

Table 1 shows the parameters of Example 1 to Example 8. Example 1 toExample 4 are parameters of an electronic device with single-sided(e.g., the right-sided) privacy effect of 0 degrees to 90 degrees.Example 5 to Example 8 are parameters of an electronic device withsingle-sided (e.g., the left-sided) privacy effect of 90 degrees to 180degrees. The parameters of Example 5 and Example 6 are shown in theelectronic devices in FIGS. 2 and 3 , respectively.

TABLE 1 Example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 first absorption axis AX1 90 degrees(270 degrees) first first alignment 90°  0°  0° 90°  90° 180° 180°  90°liquid axis AL1 crystal first liquid O mode E mode E mode O mode O modeE mode E mode O mode unit LC1 crystal layer 107 right- left- left-right- left- right- right- left- handed handed handed handed handedhanded handed handed second alignment  0° 90° 90°  0° 180°  90°  90°180° axis AL2 second absorption axis AX2 0 degrees (180 degrees) secondthird alignment 90° 90°  0°  0°  90°  90° 180° 180° liquid axis AL3crystal second liquid E mode E mode O mode O mode E mode E mode O mode Omode unit LC2 crystal layer 207 right- right- left- left- left- left-right- right- handed handed handed handed handed handed handed handedfourth alignment  0°  0° 90° 90° 180° 180°  90°  90° axis AL4 thirdabsorption axis AX3 90 degree (270 degrees)

As shown in Table 1, in some embodiments, the angle of the firstalignment axis AL1 and the angle of the third alignment axis AL3 may bethe same, or the difference between the angle of the first alignmentaxis AL1 and the angle of the third alignment axis AL3 is 180 degrees(or parallel). It means that the first liquid crystal layer 107 and thesecond liquid crystal layer 207 may have different modes. For example,the first liquid crystal layer 107 is one of E mode and O mode, and thesecond liquid crystal layer 207 is the other of E mode and O mode. Insome embodiments, the difference between the first alignment axis AL1and the third alignment axis AL3 is 90 degrees (or perpendicular). Itmeans that the first liquid crystal layer 107 and the second liquidcrystal layer 207 may have the same mode. For example, both the firstliquid crystal layer 107 and the second liquid crystal layer 207 are Emode, or both are O mode.

Table 2 shows the parameters of Example 9 to Example 16. Example 9 toExample 16 are the parameters of the electronic device with double-sidedprivacy effect of 0 degrees to 180 degrees. Wherein Example 9 to Example12 show parameters that the first liquid crystal unit LC1 providessingle-sided (e.g., the right-sided) privacy effect of 0 degrees to 90degrees, and the second liquid crystal unit LC2 provides single-sided(e.g., the left-sided) privacy effect of 90 degrees to 180 degrees.Example 13 to Example 16 show parameters that the first liquid crystalunit LC1 provides single-sided (e.g., the left-sided) privacy effect of90 degrees to 180 degrees, and the second liquid crystal unit LC2provides single-sided (e.g., the right-sided) privacy effect of 0degrees to 90 degrees. The parameter of Example 9 is shown in theelectronic device in FIG. 4 .

TABLE 2 Example 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 first absorption axis AX1 90degrees (270 degrees) first first alignment  0° 90° 90°  0° 180°  90°90° 180°  liquid axis AL1 crystal first liquid E mode O mode O mode Emode E mode O mode O mode E mode unit LC1 crystal layer 107 left- right-right- left- right- left- left- right- handed handed handed handedhanded handed handed handed second alignment 90°  0°  0° 90° 90° 180° 180°  90° axis AL2 second absorption axis AX2 0 degrees (180 degrees)second third alignment 90° 90° 180°  180°  90° 90°  0°  0° liquid axisAL3 crystal second liquid E mode E mode O mode O mode E mode E mode Omode O mode unit LC2 crystal layer 207 left- left- right- right- right-right- left- left- handed handed handed handed handed handed handedhanded fourth alignment 180°  180°  90° 90°  0°  0° 90° 90° axis AL4third absorption axis AX3 90 degrees (270 degrees)

Similar to Table 1, for example, the first liquid crystal layer 107 maybe one of E mode and O mode, and the second liquid crystal layer 207 maybe the other of E mode and O mode. For example, both the first liquidcrystal layer 107 and the second liquid crystal layer 207 may be E mode,or may be O mode.

In some embodiments, in the electronic device, the angle of the firstabsorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 and the angle of the thirdabsorption axis AX3 of the third polarizer P3 may be “b degrees” (mayalso be “b+180 degrees”). The angle of the second absorption axis AX2 ofthe polarizer P2 may be “b+90 degrees” (may also be “b+270 degrees”).Wherein, “b” may be any value greater than or equal to 0 to less than orequal to 360 (0≤b≤360). Next, the privacy range of the electronic devicemay be a single-sided privacy from “b degrees” to “b+90 degrees”, or maybe a double-sided privacy from “b degrees” to “b+180 degrees”. Then,appropriate first liquid crystal layer 107 and second liquid crystallayer 207 are selected. For example, the angle of the first absorptionaxis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 and the angle of the third absorptionaxis AX3 of the third polarizer P3 may be 135 degrees (315 degrees). Theangle of the second absorption axis AX2 of the second polarizer P2 maybe 45 degrees (225 degrees). Thus, different privacy effects such as asingle-sided privacy from 45 degrees to 135 degrees or a double-sidedprivacy from 45 degrees to 225 degrees may be obtained. Therefore,according to some embodiments, the single-sided privacy or thedouble-sided privacy may be achieved by adjusting the mode (E mode or Omode) and/or the rotation (the left-handed or the right-handed) of theliquid crystal units.

In some embodiments, the viewing angle switchable structure SS may beselected to be active or inactive, to switch the privacy mode and theshare mode of the electronic device. In some embodiments, the firstviewing angle switchable module 10 and the second viewing angleswitchable module 20 of the viewing angle switchable structure SS in theelectronic device may be independently controlled, so the first viewingangle switchable module 10 or the second viewing angle switchable module20 may be active independently. Therefore, according to someembodiments, by independently activating the first viewing angleswitchable module 10 or the second viewing angle switchable module 20 inthe electronic device with double-sided privacy effect, the single-sidedprivacy effect may be achieved.

In the following, the same or similar reference numerals will not berepeated.

Refer to FIG. 5 , FIG. 5 is a schematic three-dimensionalcross-sectional view of an electronic device 2 according to someembodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, theelectronic device 2 includes a viewing angle switchable structure SS anda display structure DS, and the display structure DS includes a backlight module 40 and a display module 30. The viewing angle switchablestructure SS includes a first polarizer P1, a second polarizer P2, afirst liquid crystal layer 107, a second liquid crystal layer 207, and asubstrate 212S. In some embodiments, the display module 30 is disposedbetween the first liquid crystal unit LC1 and the second liquid crystalunit LC2. In some embodiments, in the third direction D3, the secondliquid crystal unit LC2 is disposed on the back light module 40, and thedisplay module 30 is disposed on the second liquid crystal unit LC2. Thesecond polarizer P2 is disposed on the display module 30, the firstliquid crystal unit LC1 is disposed on the second polarizer P2, and thefirst polarizer P1 is disposed on the first liquid crystal unit LC1. Thefirst liquid crystal unit LC1 includes a first liquid crystal layer 107,and the second liquid crystal unit LC2 includes a second liquid crystallayer 207 and a substrate 212S. The first liquid crystal layer 107 isdisposed between the first polarizer P1 and the second polarizer P2, thedisplay module 30 is disposed between the second polarizer P2 and thesecond liquid crystal layer 207, and the second liquid crystal layer 207is disposed between the display module 30 and the substrate 212S.

As shown in FIG. 5 , the polarized light (the first light L1) isincident on the second liquid crystal layer 207. The angle of the firstabsorption axis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 is the same as thepolarization direction (the first polarization direction VD1) of thepolarized light (the first light L1). For example, the first absorptionaxis AX1 of the first polarizer P1 is “Y degrees” and the firstpolarization direction VD1 is Y degrees. According to some embodiments,although not shown, the polarized light (the first light L1) in FIG. 5may be provided by light L0 passing through the third polarizer P3.Please refer to FIG. 2 . In order to obtain the first light L1 with thefirst polarization direction VD1 of “Y degrees”, the third absorptionaxis AX3 of the used third polarizer P3 may be perpendicular to thefirst polarization direction VD1. Therefore, the second absorption axisAX2 of the second polarizer P2 and the third absorption axis AX3 of thethird polarizer P3 may have the same angle.

FIGS. 6 to 9 are schematic cross-sectional views of electronic devicesA1 to A4, B1 to B4, and C1 to C4 according to some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, respectively. The electronic devices A1 to A4 and B1to B4 correspond to the electronic device 1 shown in FIG. 1 , and theelectronic devices C1 to C4 correspond to the electronic device 2 shownin FIG. 5 . In the electronic device, the first liquid crystal unit LC1,the second liquid crystal unit LC2 and/or the display layer 300 may berespectively disposed between two polarizers. Taking the electronicdevice A1 in FIG. 6 as an example, the display module 30 may include anupper display polarizer P31, a display layer 300 and a lower displaypolarizer P32 that are sequentially disposed. For example, the displaylayer 300 may be a liquid crystal layer.

In the present disclosure, two adjacent polarizers may be shared, so oneof the two adjacent polarizers may be omitted to reduce the overallthickness of the electronic device. In the present disclosure, twoadjacent polarizers mean that there is no liquid crystal unit betweenthe two polarizers. In FIGS. 6 to 9 , schematic cross-sectional viewsillustrating examples in which one of the two adjacent polarizers isomitted.

Refer to FIG. 6 , specifically, in the third direction D3, in theelectronic devices A1 to A4, the display module 30 is disposed above theviewing angle switchable structure SS. As shown in the electronic deviceA1 in FIG. 6 , and in conjugation with the aforementioned relateddescriptions of the electronic device 1 in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the firstviewing angle switchable module 10 and the second viewing angleswitchable module 20 may share the first lower polarizer P12 (the secondpolarizer P2). In the electronic device A1, the first upper polarizerP11 may serve as the first polarizer P1 as shown in FIG. 1 , and thesecond lower polarizer P22 may serve as the third polarizer P3 as shownin FIG. 2 . The angles, alignment axis directions, modes, and/orrotations of each element of the electronic device A1 may be combinedwith the contents of Table 1 and/or Table 2. For example, the electronicdevice A1 may correspond to FIG. 2 (corresponding to Example 5 of Table1). Wherein, the absorption axis AX11 (the first absorption axis AX1) ofthe first polarizer P1 is 90 degrees (270 degrees), the absorption axisAX12 (the second absorption axis AX2) of the second polarizer P2 is 0degrees (180 degrees), and the absorption axis AX22 (the thirdabsorption axis AX3) of the second lower polarizer P22 (the thirdpolarizer P3) is 90 degrees (270 degrees), but the present disclosure isnot limited thereto. In addition, the absorption axis AX31 of the upperdisplay polarizer P31 may be 0 degrees (180 degrees), and the absorptionaxis AX32 of the lower display polarizer P32 may be 90 degrees (270degrees).

Refer to the electronic device A1 in FIG. 6 , the first viewing angleswitchable module 10 and the second viewing angle switchable module 20may refer to the abovementioned related descriptions, and will not berepeated here. Wherein, when the mantissa of the reference numeral of anelement is “d”, it is represented that the element is as an intermediatelayer, such as a connection layer or an adhesive. For example, by theadhesive (the intermediate layer 312 d), the second polarizer P2 in thefirst viewing angle switchable module 10 may be bonded to the secondliquid crystal unit LC2, such as the upper substrate 200S in the secondliquid crystal unit LC2 (see FIG. 9 ). The lower display polarizer P32in the display module 30 may be bonded with the first polarizer P1 inthe first viewing angle switchable module 10 by the adhesive (theintermediate layer 311 d).

Refer to FIG. 6 , in some embodiments, as shown in electronic device A1,since the lower display polarizer P32 in the display module 30 and thefirst polarizer P1 in the first viewing angle switchable module 10 havethe same absorption axis angle, the lower display polarizer P32 or thefirst polarizer P1 may be further omitted. Therefore, as shown inelectronic device A3, the lower display polarizer P32 in the displaymodule 30 may be omitted, and the first polarizer P1 in the firstviewing angle switchable module 10 may function as the lower displaypolarizer in the display module 30 at the same time. Thus, one polarizermay be omitted. That is, the display module 30 and the first viewingangle switchable module 10 may share the same first upper polarizer P11(the first polarizer P1). In the electronic device A3, the lowersubstrate (not shown) in the display module 30 may be directly bondedwith the first upper polarizer P11 (the first polarizer P1) in the firstviewing angle switchable module 10 by the adhesive (the intermediatelayer 311 d). In this way, the number of polarizers, the overallthickness of the electronic device, and/or the manufacturing cost may bereduced.

In some embodiments, the polarizer adjacent to the back light module 40may be further omitted. Therefore, as shown in the electronic devices A2and A4, since the back light module 40′ may emit polarized lightcorresponding to the light passing through the second lower polarizerP22, the second lower polarizer P22 is further omitted. Similarly, theangles, alignment axis directions, modes, and/or rotations of eachelement in the electronic devices A2 to A4 shown in FIG. 6 may also becombined with the contents of Table 1 and/or Table 2.

Refer to FIG. 7 , specifically, in the third direction D3, in theelectronic devices B1 to B4, the display module 30 is disposed below theviewing angle switchable structure SS. Similarly, as shown in theelectronic device B1 in FIG. 7 , the first upper polarizer P11 serves asthe first polarizer P1 as shown in FIG. 1 , and the first lowerpolarizer P12 serves as the second polarizer P2 as shown in FIG. 1 , andthe second lower polarizer P22 may be serves as the third polarizer P3shown in FIG. 2 . In addition, the electronic devices B2 to B4 of FIG. 7are similar to the electronic devices A2 to A4 of FIG. 6 . Furthermore,the angles, alignment axis directions, modes, and/or rotations of eachelement in the electronic devices B1 to B4 shown in FIG. 7 may also becombined with the contents of Table 1 and/or Table 2.

Refer to the electronic device B1 in FIG. 7 , the first viewing angleswitchable module 10 and the second viewing angle switchable module 20may refer to the abovementioned related descriptions, and will not berepeated here. Wherein, when the mantissa of the reference numeral of anelement is “d”, it is represented that the element is as an intermediatelayer, such as an adhesive. For example, the third polarizer P3 in thesecond viewing angle switchable module 20 may be bonded to the upperdisplay polarizer P31 in the display module 30 by an adhesive (theintermediate layer 312 d). As shown in electronic device B1, since theupper display polarizer P31 in the display module 30 and the thirdpolarizer P3 in the second viewing angle switchable module 20 have thesame absorption axis angle, the upper display polarizer P31 or the thirdpolarizer P3 may be further omitted. Therefore, as shown in electronicdevice B3, the upper display polarizer P31 in the display module 30 maybe omitted, and the third polarizer P3 in the second viewing angleswitchable module 20 may function as the upper display polarizer in thedisplay module 30 at the same time. That is, the display module 30 andthe second viewing angle switchable module 20 may share the same thirdpolarizer P3. In the electronic device B3, the upper substrate (notshown) in the display module 30 may be directly bonded to the thirdpolarizer P3 in the second viewing angle switchable module 20 byadhesive (the intermediate layer 312 d).

Refer to FIG. 8 , the electronic devices C1 to C4 are corresponding toelectronic device 2 shown in FIG. 5 . Specifically, in the thirddirection D3, in the electronic devices C1 to C4, the display module 30is disposed in the viewing angle switchable structure SS. In theelectronic device C1, the first upper polarizer P11 serves as the firstpolarizer P1 as shown in FIG. 1 , the first lower polarizer P12 servesas the second polarizer P2 as shown in FIG. 1 , and the second lowerpolarizer P22 serves as the third polarizer P3 shown in FIG. 2 . Asshown in the electronic device C1 in FIG. 8 , since the first lowerpolarizer P12 (the second polarizer P2) of the first viewing angleswitchable module 10 may also be used as the upper display polarizer P31of the display module 30, the upper display polarizer P31 of the displaymodule 30 may be omitted. In the electronic device C1, the uppersubstrate (not shown) of the display module 30 may be directly bonded tothe second polarizer P2 of the first viewing angle switchable module 10by the adhesive (the intermediate layer 311 d). In some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, as shown in the electronic device C1 in FIG. 8 ,one polarizer (i.e., the second polarizer P2) needs to be disposedbetween the first liquid crystal unit LC1 and the display layer 300 ofthe display module 30.

In some embodiments, the lower display polarizer P32 in the displaymodule 30 may be further omitted. Therefore, as shown in the electronicdevice C3, since the second upper polarizer P21 in the second viewingangle switchable module 20 may also be used as the lower displaypolarizer P32 of the display module 30, the lower display polarizer P32in the display module 30 may be omitted. In the electronic device C3,the lower substrate (not shown) in the display module 30 may be directlybonded to the second upper polarizer P21 in the second viewing angleswitchable module 20 by the adhesive (the intermediate layer 312 d).That is, the display module 30 and the second viewing angle switchablemodule 20 may share the same second upper polarizer P21. In someembodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in the electronic deviceC3 in FIG. 8 , one polarizer (i.e., the second upper polarizer P21)needs to be disposed between the second liquid crystal unit LC2 and thedisplay layer 300 of the display module 30.

In some embodiments, the polarizer adjacent to the back light module 40may be further omitted. Therefore, as shown in the electronic devices C2and C4, since the back light module 40′ may emit polarized lightcorresponding to the light passing through the second lower polarizerP22, the second lower polarizer P22 is further omitted. It should benoted that, in the electronic devices C1 to C4, since the display module30 is disposed between the first viewing angle switchable module 10 andthe second viewing angle switchable module 20, the parameters of thethird absorption axis AX3 in Table 1 and Table 2 may be adjusted (e.g.,rotated by 90 degrees) corresponding to the polarizer of the displaymodule 30.

Continuing, as shown in Table 3, the parameters of the electronicdevices A3 and C3 are exemplified, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. The electronic device A3 corresponds to Example 9 inTable 2. Under the same conditions as the parameters of the first liquidcrystal unit LC1 of the electronic device A3, the parameters of otherelements of the electronic device C3 may be adjusted.

TABLE 3 A3 the electronic device C3 0 degrees the absorption none none(180 degrees) axis AX31 of the upper display polarizer P31 90 degreesthe absorption axis AX11 of 90 degrees (270 degrees) the first upperpolarizer P11 (270 degrees) (as the first polarizer P1)  0 degrees thefirst alignment axis AL1 of  0 degrees the first alignment layer 104A Emode the first liquid crystal layer 107 E mode left-handed left-handed90 degrees the second alignment axis AL2 of 90 degrees the secondalignment layer 108A 0 degrees the absorption axis AX12 of 0 degrees(180 degrees) the first lower polarizer P12 (180 degrees) (as the secondpolarizer P2) None None the absorption 90 degrees axis AX21 of the (270degrees) second upper polarizer P21 90 degrees the third alignment axisAL3 of 90 degrees the third alignment layer 204A E mode the secondliquid crystal layer 207 O mode left-handed left-handed 180 degrees  thefourth alignment axis AL4 of 180 degrees  the fourth alignment layer208A 90 degrees the absorption axis AX22 of 0 degrees (270 degrees) thesecond lower polarizer P22 (180 degrees) (as the third polarizer P3)unpolarized back light module 40 unpolarized light light

As shown in Table 3, in the electronic device C3, the display module 30is disposed between the first viewing angle switchable module 10 and thesecond viewing angle switchable module 20. Thus, the absorption axisAX22 of the second lower polarizer P22 (referred to as the thirdpolarizer P3) is rotated by 90 degrees, and the second liquid crystallayer 207 is changed to O mode correspondingly. Therefore, in theelectronic device A3, the angle of the absorption axis AX11 of the firstupper polarizer P11 (referred to as the first polarizer P1) is 90degrees. The light passing through the second lower polarizer P22corresponds to the polarized light incident on the second liquid crystallayer 207. Thus, it represents that the polarization direction of thepolarized light incident on the second liquid crystal layer 207 is 0degrees. Therefore, in the electronic device A3, the angle of theabsorption axis of the first polarizer P1 is perpendicular to thepolarization direction of the polarized light. Furthermore, in theelectronic device C3, the angle of the absorption axis AX11 of the firstupper polarizer P11 (referred to as the first polarizer P1) is 90degrees. The light passing through the second lower polarizer P22corresponds to the polarized light incident to the second liquid crystallayer 207. Thus, it represents that the polarization direction of thepolarized light incident to the second liquid crystal layer 207 is 90degrees. Therefore, in the electronic device C3, the angle of theabsorption axis of the first polarizer P1 is the same as thepolarization direction of the polarized light.

In some embodiments, the display layer 300 of the display module 30 maybe or may include a liquid crystal display layer, a quantum dots displaylayer, an organic light emitting diode display layer, a mini lightemitting diodes display layer, a micro light emitting diode displaylayer, a quantum dot light emitting diode display layer, a phosphordisplay layer, a fluorophor display layer, other suitable displaylayers, or a combination of the foregoing, but the present disclosure isnot limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the air layer 410 may be disposed between thesecond viewing angle switchable module 20 and the back light module 40or 40′. In some embodiments, refer to FIGS. 6 to 8 , in someembodiments, the first viewing angle switchable module 10, the secondviewing angle switchable module 20, and the display module 30 may beconnected by the intermediate layer. For example, the display module 30and the first viewing angle switchable module 10 may be connected by theintermediate layer 311 d, and the first liquid crystal unit LC1 and thesecond liquid crystal unit LC2 may be connected by the intermediatelayer 312 d, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In someembodiments, the intermediate layer 311 d, the intermediate layer 312 d,and/or the intermediate layer 313 d may include or may be a connectionlayer or an air layer. For example, the connection layer may include ormay be an optically clear adhesive (OCA), an optically clear resin(OCR), other suitable connection materials, or a combination of theforegoing, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Forexample, the connection layer may include or may be an acrylicacid-based material.

In some embodiments, for example, refer to FIGS. 6 to 8 , theintermediate layer 313 d and a protective layer 320 may be furtherdisposed on the display module 30. For example, the protective layer 320and the display module 30 may be connected by the intermediate layer 313d. In other embodiments, the intermediate layer 313 d and the protectivelayer 320 are further disposed on the first viewing angle switchablemodule 10 and/or the second viewing angle switchable module 20. In someembodiments, the materials of the intermediate layer 313 d, theintermediate layer 311 d or the intermediate layer 312 d may be the sameor different. In some embodiments, the protective layer 320 may protectthe substrate and may include functional layers. The functional layersmay include an anti-reflection layer, an anti-fouling layer, ananti-glare layer, or a combination thereof. The anti-reflection layermay reduce the reflectivity of electronic devices. In some embodiments,the anti-reflection layer may include or may be a metal layer, amaterial with high reflectivity, other suitable materials, or acombination of the foregoing.

FIG. 9 shows a detailed structure of the electronic device. Please referto FIG. 9 and the electronic device A3 in FIG. 6 at the same time. Insome embodiments, the first liquid crystal unit LC1 may include thesubstrate 100S, the first electrode 102E, the first alignment layer104A, the first liquid crystal layer 107, the second alignment layer108A, the second electrode 110E, and the substrate 112S which aresequentially (from top to bottom) disposed in the third direction D3.The second liquid crystal unit LC2 may include the substrate 200S, thethird electrode 202E, the third alignment layer 204A, the second liquidcrystal layer 207, the fourth alignment layer 208A, the fourth electrode210E, and the substrate 212S which are sequentially (from top to bottom)disposed in the third direction D3. In some embodiments, the firstelectrode 102E and the second electrode 110E are used to apply a voltageto turn the first liquid crystal layer 107 disposed between the firstelectrode 102E and the second electrode 110E. The third electrode 202Eand the fourth electrode 210E are used to apply a voltage to turn thesecond liquid crystal layer 207 disposed between the third electrode202E and the fourth electrode 210E. In some embodiments, the firstliquid crystal layer 107 and the second liquid crystal layer 207 areindependently controlled.

In some embodiments, the substrate 100S, the substrate 112S, thesubstrate 200S, and/or the substrate 212S may be a flexible substrate ora rigid substrate. According to some embodiments, the abovementionedsubstrate may be a glass substrate, but the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. In some embodiments, the first electrode 102E, thesecond electrode 110E, the third electrode 202E, and the fourthelectrode 210E may be or may include transparent or opaque conductivematerials. In some embodiments, the transparent conductive material maybe indium tin oxide (ITO). In some embodiments, the conductive materialmay include copper (Cu), aluminum (Al), molybdenum (Mo), tungsten (W),gold (Au), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), platinum (Pt), Titanium (Ti),silver (Ag), alloys thereof, other suitable conductive materials, or acombination of foregoing, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. In some embodiments, the first alignment layer 104A, the secondalignment layer 108A, the third alignment layer 204A, and/or the fourthalignment layer 208A may include polyimide (PI), but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto.

To sum up, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in theviewing angle switchable structure, the absorption axis of the firstpolarizer and the absorption axis of the second polarizer have differentangles. The second liquid crystal layer is disposed between the secondpolarizer and the substrate of the second liquid crystal unit. The angleof the absorption axis of the first polarizer may be perpendicular tothe polarization direction of the incident polarized light. In this way,the second polarizer may be used as a common polarizer for the firstviewing angle switchable module and the second viewing angle switchablemodule. According to some embodiments, in the viewing angle switchablestructure, the second liquid crystal layer is disposed between thedisplay module and the substrate of the second liquid crystal unit. Theangle of the absorption axis of the first polarizer and the polarizationdirection of the incident polarized light are the same. In this way, thesecond polarizer may be used as a common polarizer for the first viewingangle switchable module and the display module. By making at least twoof the first viewing angle switchable module, the second viewing angleswitchable module, and the display module share the polarizer, thenumber of polarizers may be reduced, the overall thickness of theelectronic device, and/or the manufacturing cost may be reduced.

The features among the various embodiments may be arbitrarily combinedas long as they do not violate or conflict with the spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, the scope of the present disclosure is notlimited to the process, machine, manufacturing, material composition,device, method, and step in the specific embodiments described in thespecification. A person of ordinary skill in the art will understandcurrent and future process, machine, manufacturing, materialcomposition, device, method, and step from the content disclosed in someembodiments of the present disclosure, as long as the current or futureprocess, machine, manufacturing, material composition, device, method,and step performs substantially the same functions or obtainsubstantially the same results as the present disclosure. Therefore, thescope of the present disclosure includes the above-mentioned process,machine, manufacturing, material composition, device, method, and steps.It is not necessary for any embodiment or claim of the presentdisclosure to achieve all of the objects, advantages, and/or featuresdisclosed herein.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments of the presentdisclosure, so that a person of ordinary skill in the art may betterunderstand the aspects of the present disclosure. A person of ordinaryskill in the art should appreciate that, the present disclosure may bereadily used as a basis for designing or modifying other processes andstructures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the sameadvantages of the embodiments introduced herein. A person of ordinaryskill in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructionsdo not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, andthat they may make various changes, substitutions, and alterationsherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a viewing angleswitchable structure comprising a first polarizer, a second polarizer, afirst liquid crystal layer, a second liquid crystal layer, and asubstrate, a display layer disposed on the first polarizer; and an upperdisplay polarizer disposed on the display layer, wherein the displaylayer is disposed between the first polarizer and the upper displaypolarizer; wherein the first liquid crystal layer is disposed betweenthe first polarizer and the second polarizer, the second liquid crystallayer is disposed between the second polarizer and the substrate, and apolarized light is incident into the second liquid crystal layer, andwherein an absorption axis of the first polarizer and an absorption axisof the second polarizer have different angles, and the angle of theabsorption axis of the first polarizer is perpendicular to apolarization direction of the polarized light, and an absorption axis ofthe upper display polarizer is perpendicular to the absorption axis ofthe first polarizer.
 2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1,wherein a difference between the angle of the absorption axis of thefirst polarizer and the angle of the absorption axis of the secondpolarizer is 90 degrees.
 3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the viewing angle switchable structure further comprises a thirdpolarizer, the second liquid crystal layer is disposed between thesecond polarizer and the third polarizer, and a light passes through thethird polarizer to provide the polarized light.
 4. The electronic deviceas claimed in claim 3, wherein the angle of the absorption axis of thefirst polarizer and an angle of an absorption axis of the thirdpolarizer are the same.
 5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1,further comprising a display structure, wherein the display structure isused to provide a light, so that the light passes through the viewingangle switchable structure, wherein the display structure comprises adisplay module, the display module comprises the display layer, and thedisplay module and the viewing angle switchable structure share thefirst polarizer.
 6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 5, whereinthe display structure further comprises a back light module, and theback light module is used to provide the polarized light.
 7. Theelectronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the display layer is anorganic light emitting diode display layer.
 8. The electronic device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the first liquid crystal layer and thesecond liquid crystal layer comprise twisted nematic liquid crystal. 9.The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronicdevice comprises a liquid crystal unit, and the liquid crystal unitcomprises the second liquid crystal layer and the substrate.
 10. Theelectronic device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first liquidcrystal layer and the second liquid crystal layer are independentlycontrolled.
 11. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: a first alignment layer with a first alignment axis, asecond alignment layer with a second alignment axis, the first liquidcrystal layer is disposed between the first alignment layer and thesecond alignment layer, a third alignment layer with a third alignmentaxis, and a fourth alignment layer with a fourth alignment axis, thesecond liquid crystal layer is disposed between the third alignmentlayer and the fourth alignment layer, wherein the electronic device hasa privacy range which is a widest angle range formed by the angles ofthe first alignment axis to the fourth alignment axis.
 12. An electronicdevice, comprising: a viewing angle switchable structure comprising afirst polarizer, a second polarizer, a first liquid crystal layer, asecond liquid crystal layer, and a substrate, and a display structurecomprising a back light module and a display module, wherein the firstliquid crystal layer is disposed between the first polarizer and thesecond polarizer, the display module is disposed between the secondpolarizer and the second liquid crystal layer, the second liquid crystallayer is disposed between the display module and the substrate, and apolarized light is incident into the second liquid crystal layer, andwherein an angle of an absorption axis of the first polarizer is thesame as a polarization direction of the polarized light, wherein theviewing angle switchable structure further comprises a third polarizer,the second liquid crystal layer is disposed between the second polarizerand the third polarizer, and a light passes through the third polarizerto provide the polarized light, wherein the angle of the absorption axisof the second polarizer and an angle of an absorption axis of the thirdpolarizer are the same.
 13. The electronic device as claimed in claim12, wherein a difference between the angle of the absorption axis of thefirst polarizer and an angle of an absorption axis of the secondpolarizer is 90 degrees.
 14. The electronic device as claimed in claim12, wherein the display module and the viewing angle switchablestructure share the second polarizer.
 15. The electronic device asclaimed in claim 12, wherein the display module further comprises afourth polarizer and a display layer, the display layer is disposedbetween the second polarizer and the fourth polarizer, and the displaymodule and the viewing angle switchable structure share the fourthpolarizer.
 16. The electronic device as claimed in claim 12, wherein theback light module is used to provide the polarized light.
 17. Theelectronic device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the first liquidcrystal layer and the second liquid crystal layer comprise twistednematic liquid crystal.
 18. The electronic device as claimed in claim12, wherein the electronic device comprises a liquid crystal unit, andthe liquid crystal unit comprises the second liquid crystal layer andthe substrate.
 19. The electronic device as claimed in claim 12, whereinthe display structure comprises an organic light emitting diode displaylayer.
 20. The electronic device as claimed in claim 12, wherein thefirst liquid crystal layer and the second liquid crystal layer areindependently controlled.